KIDS OFFER SOBERING LOOK AT ILLEGAL DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE

Ask almost any young person why some preteens and teens use illegal drugs
and alcohol, and they'll reel off enough reasons to make any drug educator
proud and any parent worried: depression, loneliness, peer pressure,
thrills, escapism, popularity, rebellion, confusion, family problems,
curiosity, fun. Most can just as readily recite some of the dangers:
addiction, disease, arrest, death.

Yet large numbers of students continue to use illegal drugs and alcohol,
routinely or occasionally, according to the nearly 8,000 responses to this
month's Mindworks.

Mindworks first asked young people why some students use illegal drugs and
alcohol, and what adults can do to help prevent such use, in December 1988.
While most of this year's themes remain similar to those of 1988, a few
significant changes appeared:

Most students now include cigarette smoking as a form of drug use. A new
term is common -- "anti-drug" -- used by those with a strong personal
reason for not using drugs. And advertising and the entertainment media are
more frequently named as major factors in luring teens to drugs.

In general, most elementary-aged students listed the well-known reasons
given for drug use, such as peer pressure, popularity and depression. They
vowed that they would never, ever use. Many of the fourth-through
sixth-graders said they had received drug education, usually DARE (Drug
Abuse Resistance Education) and they spoke highly of such programs and
recommended that the programs continue through middle school and high school.

Sarah Graham, 10, of St. Paul, wrote "I know for a fact that some of the
fifth-and sixth-graders will grow up to be drinkers and drug takers, but
the DARE program most likely stopped many people from even thinking about
doing drugs and drinking."

A reason why some of those students will go on to use is because as
students age, pressure increases. Most commonly, the pressure to use begins
at about middle school, although some students said their first encounters
with drugs occurred when they were as young as 8. That exposure increases
and is especially strong in high school, when parties become commonplace
and kids are more rebellious.

Eighth-grader Rachel Rydel of Maplewood imagined the scene: "You're at a
party. This is the best party you've been to. The music is pounding and the
house is packed. All around you, your friends are dancing, laughing and
having a great time. Suddenly there is a cheer. You begin to see beer cans
appear in many people's hands. All of a sudden, a can is placed in your
hands. You hold it uncertainly, and there is a flutter in your heart. ...
What do you say?"

Many teens said the need to belong underlies the appeal of drug use. High
schooler Joe Felion of St. Paul wrote, "If you ask an adolescent what the
most important thing to them is, the answer will probably not be family,
school or religion. More often than not the answer will be friends. ... It
is no surprise that they will do anything to fit in."

Many said teens use drugs or alcohol to relieve stress. With the pressures
of school, part-time jobs, extracurricular activities, broken families,
failed relationships and demanding parents, "getting away" can be appealing.

Kevin Boyer, 16, of Brooklyn Park wrote, "The kids feel they need to forget
their problems for a while and get high or drunk. Some people think if you
do it, the problems in your life will go away. That's not true, but if you
forget your problems for at least a little while, isn't that better than
not forgetting your problems at all?"

Some admitted that they use to get back at parents -- parents who have
divorced, parents who are too busy with work, overprotective parents who
make every decision for their teens. Rachel Anderson, 12, of Richfield,
wrote, "Teens and preteens don't get enough attention. These days some
families don't even eat a meal together. The parents are so busy with work
they don't have time for kids."

Easy accessibility is also a factor, said those who asserted that
practically every teen in every town knows how to buy drugs. Often, said
several, the suppliers are older siblings, older friends or even parents. A
few said they know kids who smoke dope or drink with their moms or dads.

Scores of small-town and rural teens insisted that they use because there
is nothing else to do. A 17-year-old girl from Madelia, Minn., wrote, "My
parents drink when they are having fun. Since my parents are having fun
doing it, then why can't I have fun and do it? Alcohol just makes a little
boring town more exciting."

Parents Play A Key Role

Preventing teen drug use is complicated, but not impossible, said most.
Parents are key to raising teens who either won't use or whose use will be
minimal. Open communication is essential and both preteens and teens
pleaded for parents to not lecture, not yell, not assume, but instead to
talk calmly and to listen.

Some said that parents should institute curfews, chaperone parties, keep
their own liquor locked up and know their children's friends. Parents also
should be aware if their teens seem depressed.

Several said adults who supply teens with drugs should be severely
punished; others wish for sophisticated technology that could detect fake
IDs. Schools could have more locker searches, backpack searches and
mandatory drug tests, said some. Perhaps more stress management courses for
teens would be helpful, suggested one.

"One way to prevent drug and alcohol use is to stop advertising it to us,"
wrote eighth-grader Janessa Ide of Gaylord, Minn. "We see it everywhere in
magazines, on TV and on billboards. No wonder so many kids do it. It's like
they're telling us to."

Drug education is helpful, said most, but the most potent influence is
hearing from other teens or adults who have had bad experiences when using
drugs. Some said that simply watching their friends behave foolishly at
parties and throw up afterwards is enough to curb their curiosity.

The lessons have come hard for those who have watched drug-abusing friends
or siblings as their personalities change, grades plummet and dreams
evaporate. Some have lost loved ones to addiction or drunken driving; a
couple said they have brothers who are in jail for selling drugs.

Perhaps adults could better understand the teens' situation if they tried
to answer these questions posed by Carissa Sloan, 13, of Maplewood:

"Can you remember the first time you tried drugs? What were you going
through at the time? Chances are you experimented and can answer those
questions. If you haven't, that's great, but what held you back from using?"